SIM card registration pushed

‘Time to put an end to text scams’

WITH fresh backing from the Senate leadership, Sen. Grace Poe underscored anew the need for a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Card Registration law to battle incessant spam messages clogging cell phones and duping subscribers.

“The open support of the Senate President will be an impetus to bolster the passage of our bill. Hackers, spammers, and phishers appear to get more sophisticated by the day and come up with even more believable scams. They are emboldened to do their dark deeds because they can remain anonymous,” Poe, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said.

 

She said even her staff received spam text messages bearing their names. The messages were invitations to click a link to play “slot game” which is popular in many casinos. “Unwanted messages offering items, jobs, loans, among others have also been ceaseless,” she added.

 

Poe said no less than Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri nearly fell victim to robbery and extortion attempts through a series of text messages from people posing as government officials demanding cash from him. This prompted Zubiri to reiterate his call for the speedy passage of the SIM Card Registration bill.

 

Poe last month refiled her Senate Bill No. 99 to require public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to register SIM cards as prerequisite to their sale and activation. Under the bill, all existing SIM card subscribers shall register for free with their respective PTEs within 180 days from the measure’s effectivity. The registration period may be extended for another 120 days upon written request to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.  Failure to do so will authorize the PTEs to retire the SIM card.

 

Poe’s bill prohibits the disclosure of information obtained in the registration process, except upon a court order, written consent of the subscriber or in compliance with the Data Privacy Act.  Breach of confidentiality by any PTE shall be meted penalties: first offense, a fine not to exceed P300,000; second offense, not more than P500,000; third and subsequent offense, a fine not exceeding P1 million for every offense. The unauthorized sale of registered SIM cards shall also be penalized by imprisonment of no less than six years and/or a fine of P200,000. 

 

“Each day without the law, someone gets victimized. Scammers spare no one. We must stop them in their tracks,” Poe said as she called on telecom companies  to also fight text scams.

 

Globe Telecom has more than 87 million subscribers while Smart Telecommunication has over 70 million, and Dito with only 1 million subscribers.

 

The bill was first introduced during President Rodrigo Duterte’s term following the emergence of so-called pro-Duterte “troll farms” on social media, especially even before the 2016 presidential election. But Duterte rejected the bill over concerns that this will give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance. Duterte vetoed the proposed law over the inclusion of social media registration.

The provision requiring social media networks to compel their users to provide their real name and phone numbers when creating accounts was included by lawmakers during the bicameral conference meetings on the bill. The measure also penalizes people who use fictitious identities to register for social media accounts with a fine of up to P200,000, jail time of at least six years or both.

Lawmakers passed the measure in an attempt to address terrorism, text scams, bank fraud and defamation online, but internet freedom advocates said this bill will violate Filipinos’ right to privacy. (Mindanao Examiner)